Tseng placed his suitcase next to his desk and, knowing that Rufus was watching, waved at the camera under the ceiling in the corner. The vice president still watched him over the surveillance system whenever Tseng was in view of a camera. He had gotten to terms with it, and the mixture of anxiety and excitement he had felt initially had made way to a feeling of connection with Rufus, which was not entirely unpleasant. He did not force himself to ignore the cameras anymore, and he had found that it was actually less distracting now, despite him sending a casual look toward the cameras whenever he was aware of them.
He took off his gloves and turned to the coffee maker to prepare the usual two mugs of coffee, a habit that they had kept up over the course of the months ever since Tseng took over the duty to watch over the vice president. Unfortunately, against his best hopes, the president had decided that Rufus was to remain jailed despite his invaluable service at Wutai and there was no indication that he would change his mind any time soon. And so, Tseng did his best to help the vice president settle back in, and to make the situation for him as tolerable as possible. Rufus already knew that he was coming, so he did not have to announce himself, but put the mugs on the tray and went straight into the cell, where he found Rufus standing behind the couch, leaning on the back, facing the door. He was wearing a thin, white turtleneck sweater that gave him a more casual look than usual.
"Good day to you, sir!", Tseng greeted him with some surprise. Rufus usually sat or lounged around on the couch when he came, drafting pieces for a new fashion collection or reading something, or simply watching what was going on in Midgar on his tablet. Straightening himself up, Rufus simply responded: "Hi!", and stepped around the couch while Tseng was placing the tray on the table. "What are you up to, sir?", Tseng inquired, watching Rufus approach him. Instead of responding, Rufus raised a hand to Tseng's face, his cool fingers brushing comfortingly against his skin. Studying his face from an angle, Rufus brushed his hair away to reveal the large bruise that had turned a bluish purple overnight. "Did your girlfriend punch you or something?", he inquired. The question made Tseng almost chuckle. Rufus had only seen the edited footage from WC1, so he could not have known exactly what had transpired at the scene and must have been very surprised when Tseng first came back in view of Shinra surveillance at the Miken Island base and his face was black and blue for no apparent reason. "I had a small run-in with Yuffie Kisaragi who really did not hold back when she kicked my face. It's not broken, but it'll take a few days for the bruise to disappear", he was quick to ascertain when Rufus's expression changed from a frown to a scowl.
"Hm. Well, I'm still a bit disappointed we couldn't take her with us", Rufus expressed, slowly pulling back his hand. Tseng's hand acted faster than he could think in reaching for Rufus' wrist and placing his hand back on his cheek. "I've been meaning to ask, sir", Tseng began insecurely, passing over Rufus' surprised expression. He felt the heat rising to his face as he continued: "Did I say or do anything to displease you?" Rufus frowned and pinched his eyes the way he always did when he was confused. "What brought this on?", he wanted to know. Tseng could not hold eye contact when he explained: "You haven't kissed me since we were in Wutai." Rufus' hand moved slowly from his cheek behind his neck as he gently pulled Tseng toward himself and revealed: "I stopped doing that because I thought you don't like it..." When Tseng hesitantly moved his hand to Rufus' waist, Rufus muttered close to his ear: "Was that wrong?"
"It's hard to explain, sir", Tseng tried, which drew a sigh from Rufus. "I don't know what that means." Tseng closed his eyes for a moment and tightened his grip around Rufus' waist. "We've already been found out and if there is any suspicion that I might be conspiring with you, I will be replaced immediately. And that is neither in your, nor in my best interest." Upon hearing this, Rufus finally wrapped his arms around Tseng's back as pulled him closer, while Tseng continued: "Chief Veld is the only one aside from myself who can access this camera and the recordings. I don't think he listens to our conversations, but if we act like we do right now, he will see it immediately, even if he's just fast-forwarding through the footage." Rufus sighed again. "Then I'm sure he already knows and hasn't told anyone." Tseng nodded. "I know, but I still worry about it all the time." Rufus loosened his grip around Tseng just enough for Tseng to be able to look into his light blue eyes. "I'll say it again, Tseng. Say it clearly." Tseng blinked in confusion, to which Rufus added: "Do you like it when I kiss you?" Tseng nodded lightly and finally came out with the response: "Very much, sir."
Before he knew it, Rufus' lips were on his and they were kissing intensely as their hands explored each other's bodies until they were quite out of breath and found themselves wanting more. "We can't do that here, sir", Tseng finally said in an attempt to explain why he did not want to go any further without hurting Rufus again, who smirked and whispered: "What if I ordered you to?" That certainly was an option Tseng had also considered before. True enough, if Rufus forced him to do things, it would not raise questions about Tseng's loyalty, but who would find that argument convincing, considering the nature of their relationship? "Just kidding", Rufus joked as he let go of his subordinate and turned around. "Let's have some coffee instead." Coffee sounded not quite as attractive as the alternative, but still good enough to consider, even if it was just a distraction, so Tseng joined him to sit on the couch. Him not using the armchair anymore had been another gradual change in their relationship as the weeks had gone by, along with his increased tolerance toward receiving messages from his boss at random times during the day.
I had been wondering the whole time ever since the vice president first revealed his interest in Tseng if this was how other people got into relationships. Saying "I think you're hot" and then kissing someone out of the blue seemed like a really… how should I put this? "Direct" does not quite describe it. Invasive. It seemed like an incredibly invasive way to show one's interest. Naturally, it had been very different for me and Sephiroth. After having been friends for such a long time, it was even harder to go from friends to lovers. Genesis was even more different. He had a new girlfriend every other weekend. He had no trouble at all getting it on with girls. Sephiroth and I? We were pretty much unaware of the possibility, or perhaps ignored it for a very long time. But even I knew it could not be so easy as to say "You're hot" and then be together. Tseng and Rufus were making progress, nonetheless, if whatever "this" was could be called progress.
Tseng had to force himself to drink the coffee patiently after their making out had come to a premature end. As he set down the mug, his eyes fell on Rufus' tablet that sat on the table, displaying a particular news article, and all of a sudden, an idea came into his head. He pointed at the tablet and asked: "Do you want to go?" – "Go where?", Rufus countered before his eyes followed where Tseng was pointing. The newspaper article was about the approaching launch of the Shinra 26, the very first manned space mission. It was scheduled to take its pilot, Cid Highwind, into orbit, in two weeks. "You mean to Rocket Town?", Rufus followed up, to which Tseng nodded. "I think the president isn't going after all. Maybe you could fill in for him?" Rufus sipped his coffee and brushed Tseng's hair back behind his ear. "Guess this propaganda project is obsolete now that the war is over. They should have canceled it entirely if you ask me." Tseng nodded. "I suppose. But Palmer got his way. I think he argued that the money was already spent and canceling at this point made no sense. Scarlet supported his petition. She said the technology might be useful for weapons development in the future. And you know how Heidegger feels about new weapons!" Rufus sipped his coffee again. "Hm. Maybe. Still, you know I'm not a fan of the space program." Tseng shrugged. "Think about it. It might be a good time to… unwind." Rufus looked at him from the side. "Unwind?" Tseng kissed Rufus on the lips again and repeated: "Unwind, sir." Rufus looked into his eyes inquisitively and responded: "If you put it like that, it doesn't sound all that bad. But I'm locked up in here, so." Tseng nodded. "I can make a petition. There's no guarantee it'll be approved, but I think it would make sense for the vice president to be there to support this public project and Director Palmer. And there's no way you could escape from the base in Rocket Town." Rufus' mouth twitched when he finally agreed: "Why not, I guess?"